


Drowning

by De_Marvel_Bunny



Series: Whumptober 2019 [31]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Peter Parker is a Good Bro, Team as Family, Tony Angst, Tony Stark Angst, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Tony Stark Has Self-Esteem Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 09:14:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21250985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/De_Marvel_Bunny/pseuds/De_Marvel_Bunny
Summary: Tony gets shot down during a mission and ends up in a river. Steve to the rescue and Peter ships it.This is the last work in this series and I really don't care for summaries anymore, but basically: Stony, Tony angst, Iron Dad, protective Peter





	Drowning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kcusllay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcusllay/gifts), [The_Sad_Fangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Sad_Fangirl/gifts).

> Wassup y'all
> 
> So I'm sick, I slept from 1 PM till 5:30 when my dad woke me for dinner and I completely forgot to write this story. It's the last story of this series, though, and even though it's definitely not my best, I didn't want to just post nothing. Also, I also want to apologize for the heavy angst in the last fic, so here's some more 'Peter ships Stony' ending cuz I like those :)

It was a Monday. Tony Stark hated Mondays. Especially this one.

He'd woken up by the Avengers alarm blaring around the compound. He'd passed out on his desk the night before, and seeing as he hadn't slept in days _and_ wasn't allowed coffee before going into battle put him in a bad mood already. It was late, somewhere in the afternoon. The sky was already darkening and the temperature lowered drastically. Tony didn't like it.

To top it all off, his suit was also acting up within the first few hours of battle when something had struck his chest. Besides the pain, it was also obstructing his movements, and the suit was heavy to operate. The cold easily slipped past the cracks in the armor and greedily picked at his thin shirt, nipping at his skin. He shivered inside the armor, clenching his jaw to keep his teeth from clattering.

"Iron Man, pursue the escaping target," Steve said over the coms with his Captain America voice. "We can't let any of them escape."

"Roger that," Tony grunted out, eyes locking on his target, which was flying towards the river. He groaned as his armor struggled to follow the commands he gave it, flying low to help out Spider-Man who was once again taking on more than he could. The kid saluted at him and kept fighting. Tony almost rolled his eyes but a headache was building at his temples and he figured a migraine wasn't worth it. He pursued his target, gaining on it quickly. Suddenly, everything went fast.

One moment, Tony was flying behind the alien-like creature, weapons locked on target. The next, he was crashing into a river.

The alien had managed to fire something at him that he couldn't dodge with his suit's limited movement due to the damage around the arc reactor, the suit's power source. The weapon hit the reactor, and the suit shut down. Tony yelped in slight pain must mostly surprise, mixed with a little fear, which multiplied when he saw where he was going to crash. Frantically, he tried to do something, anything that would keep him from falling into the water. His numb fingers inside a dead suit were useless, and soon enough, he hit the water's surface. He sank quickly with the weight of the suit, water seeping in from all sides. It was cold, so cold. His mind wandered back to Afganistan and his breathing picked up as he felt the water rise in his helmet. He gasped in the last bit of air he could manage before the water surrounded him entirely. His lungs were burning, his vision fading rapidly. His panic ebbed away as exhaustion overtook him, and he closed his eyes. The last bit of air escaped from his lungs as he hit the bottom of the river.

* * *

Peter saw it happen. He saw his mentor chase after the alien, saw him get shot down, and watched him sink into the river. He didn't think twice.

He ignored the aliens still surrounding him, taking off towards the river with a speed he hadn't known he possessed. He heard the shouts of the other Avengers through the coms, inquiring about Iron Man's status, and a few yelling at Spider-Man to get back. But Peter knew he was the closest, and Mr. Stark's only hope. He gasped in a deep breath and dove into the river.

Karen, the saint, started looking for heat signatures as soon as he dove in, quickly spotting the dead Iron Man armor. Peter swam over, tearing at the suit frantically, knowing he wouldn't be able to carry it up in time. Karen showed him how to deactivate the suit, and soon enough the armor was in pieces on the bottom of the river. Peter grabbed onto his mentor and kicked off towards the surface. It took way too long for Peter's liking, who was hyper-aware of every second that passed. He kept his mentor's head above the water as he kicked off towards land, shooting out a web to drag them towards it faster.

When they reached land, he dragged them both onto the sand, tearing off his mask.

"Mr. Stark?" He panted. The man lay still and unresponsive on the shore. "Mr. Stark, wake up!" Peter tried again, shaking the man in hopes of waking him up. But Tony's eyes remained firmly closed. It took a moment for Peter to realize that he wasn't breathing.

"Peter!"

Peter looked back, tears already streaming down his face, and spotted Steve running towards them.

"He-he's not breathing!" Peter exclaimed, his breathing picking up in panic. "Sir, you can't- you can't die like this. Please, don't- just wake up, please?" He sobbed, still shaking his mentor's shoulder. Tony still remained unresponsive, his chest still.

When Steve reached them he pulled off his scowl, dropped his shield in the sand and collapsed onto his knees by Tony's side. He pushed Peter away slightly and started the chest compressions. He switched between the compressions and the mouth-to-mouth tirelessly, clearly not ready to give up. He got desperate as time went by and Tony was still not breathing.

"Come on, Tony," he muttered. "Come on. Come on!" He yelled, giving one last chest compression before moving back to place his lips over Tony's, giving away own breath in the hope it would help Tony breathe. Peter noticed that he stayed there longer than usual before pulling away again, panting slightly as he looked at Tony's face expectantly. His expression turned crushed when it didn't seem to have done anything.

"What are you doing?" Peter yelled frantically. "Don't stop, he's still not breathing!" He wanted to jump forward to continue the compressions, but Steve held him back.

"Peter, I've already broken two of his ribs with the compressions. His sternum is too weak to take anything more. I'm sorry, I'm afraid this is all I can do..." his voice broke, and Peter looked up. Steve's face was wet with tears, and even with the dim lighting of the setting sun, Peter could see the tears still glistening in his eyes. Peter deflated, a broken sob escaping his lips. Tony still wasn't moving. Peter didn't stop the next sob from tearing from his throat as he realized that this was it. Tony was gone. The man he'd looked up to all his life, who had taught and given him so much, who-

Both Peter and Steve started as Tony gasped, turning on his side as he coughed up the water from his lungs, heaving and gasping.

"Tony!" Steve exclaimed, quickly reaching out. But when his hands touched Tony's shoulder to help him, Tony flinched away, yelling something incoherently but sounding so broken and terrified, Steve reeled back as if physically hit. "Tony, it's me. It's Steve," he said softly, not touching the man but not staying too far away, either. Tony was curled into himself, his chest heaving and his arm clutching his broken ribs.

"Please, no. No more, please, please!" He cried, sounding exhausted and scared. Steve decided to take a chance and pulled Tony in his arms, gently holding him against his chest. Tony tried to push him off, panicked pleas escaping past his lips as he flailed in Steve's arms. But Steve kept a gentle hold on him, whispering soothingly in his ear and running his hands through Tony's brown curls in a way he knew the genius liked. Soon enough, Tony's protests died down and he gave in, burrowing into Steve's warmth.

"Steve?" He croaked weakly after his breathing slowed.

"Yeah, Tony?" Steve answered immediately. Tony peeked out from where he'd hidden his face in Steve's chest, looking at him with wide eyes.

"What happened?" He asked softly. Steve knew the question hiding underneath. _'Was it real?'_

"We were on a mission, Tony. You fell into the river. Peter got you out." Tony's look turned confused, so Steve gestured over his shoulder where Peter was frantically wiping away his tears. Tony looked slightly embarrassed when he realized how much Peter had seen, but it didn't seem to be enough to sacrifice his personal heater for.

"You okay, Pete?" He asked, his voice still hoarse and weak. Peter's head shot up.

"Am _I_ okay?" He repeated, scoffing. "You just almost drowned! I was sure you were _dead_, and you ask me if _I'm_ okay? Do you not have an ounce of self-respect?" Peter was practically screaming at this point, his hands waving around wildly. Tony looked slightly taken aback, although there was a haze in his eyes that told Steve he wasn't fully there.

"No," he stated matter-of-factly. Both Steve and Peter gave him a look, which Tony was completely oblivious to. "I'll tell you what I am at the moment; I'm cold. I'm really,_ really_ cold and I'd like it if I weren't. So-" he was cut off by honest-to-god _sneezing_, after which he completely froze. "Oh, no. Oh, shit-"

Too late.

"Aww," Steve cooed, and Tony groaned in embarrassment. "You have such a cute sneeze," the captain said sweetly, and Tony's ears turned red. The glare he sent Steve's way was slightly less effective than usual by his drooping eyelids and faint blush. But the fact that he was shaking all over and struggling to keep his teeth from clattering had Steve take pity. He nodded silently and helped the man to his feet, knowing Tony didn't want to be embarrassed even further than he already was. But when Tony got to his feet, he swayed, clutching his ribs in pain as his knees buckled. So Steve didn't give him a choice, gathering him up in his arms and tucking him close to his chest before quickly walking away to keep Tony from protesting. Peter followed obediently behind, and the fact that Tony didn't even protest was enough of a concern to have Steve speed up in the direction of the jet. The team was already waiting for them with the doors open, and Steve put Tony down carefully on the cot. He was awake, although barely.

"Stay with him," he ordered Peter. "I'm gonna get him some blankets." Peter nodded obediently and sat beside the bed.

"So..." he started, not wanting the awkward silence to stretch on. "You almost drowned," he stated. Tony hazily looked up at him, looking exhausted.

"Y-yeah," he said, teeth clattering. "Th-thanks th-though," he said, looking at his mentee earnestly. "F-for, you k-know." He looked away, but Peter understood.

"You're welcome, Mr. Stark," he said, smiling softly. Steve came back with blankets, throwing them over Tony all at once.

"Clint, turn up the heating!" He called at the archer in the pilot's seat. He received an affirmative and the temperature rose.

"Y-you k-kn-know," Tony said, still shivering violently. "Y-you're a p-pretty good hea-heater." Steve sighed in relief.

"I thought you'd never ask." Quickly, he crawled onto the cot, which was a bit of a challenge due to his size. Peter watched their struggling with raised eyebrows. Tony ended up draped over Steve, comfortable in his warmth. He was out like a light within seconds. Steve was absolutely beaming as he held his friend (Peter was pretty sure they were more than friends). Another silence washed over them as Tony slowly stopped shivering underneath the blankets.

"So..." Peter said, placing his elbow on the cot and his head on his hand as he looked the captain in the eye. "You're in love with my mentor." Steve froze.

"Shit."

Peter grinned manically.

"You and I need to have a few words..."

**Author's Note:**

> I'M FREEEEEEE


End file.
